Improvement in burial-cases



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ANLPHOTD-LITHO. C0. NN. (USBORNE'S PIDCESM UTITED STATES PATENT Ormea.

JOHN -PEAK AND F. T. PINKHAM, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS. I

IMPROVEMENT IN BURIAL-CASES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 42,0l8, dated March 22, 1864.

To all whom it may concern:

Beit known that we, JOHN PEAK and F. T. PINKHAM, both of Boston, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Burial-Cases, &c. 5 and I do hereby declare that the following description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings hereinafter referred to, forms a full and exact specilication of the same, wherein we have set forth the nature and principles of our said improvements by which our invention may be distinguished from all others of a similar class,

Atogether with such parts as we claim and desire to have secured to us by Letters Patent.

The figures ofthe accompanying plate of drawings represent our improvements. Figure 1 is a plan or top view of our new burialcase, representing it with the lid or cover removed. Fig. 2 is a central longitudinal vertical section of the same. Figj is a plan or top view with the lid or cover fastened upon the receptacle.

The object of the present invention is to construct a burial-case which shall combine all the advantages of a wooden receptacle with those of a metal one and yet avoid the disadvantages of both. The first desideratum to be attained in a burial-case is to render it both air-tight when closed, and of sufficient strength to resist the pressure of gases from within. ln the use of metal alone, especially cast-iron, for such purposes the direct objections consist in its great weight and its liability to fracture by sudden blows and by extremes of heat and cold. Wood has the advantage of lightness and cheapness, but cannot be kept airtight, and does not possess suiicient strength and durability. After many tests we have constructed a burial-case which exactly answers all the desired requirements- Viz., lightness, strength, imperviousness to air or water, moderate cost, and complete preservation of the body sealed therein, either while being transported or otherwise. y

Our new case for the preservation of bodies consists of an outer box made of wood of any desired pattern or form, combined with an inner air tight receptacle of zinc or other suitable sheet material, and a self sealing air-tight joint between the lid or cover and the main body of the receptacle.y For the inner receptacle we have found by experience that zinc is the best, as it has the requisite lightness and stren gth. To make a selfsealin g joint We form by the top margin of the metal receptacle a peculiar-shaped groove or channel, which, when filled with a suitable cement, and in conjunction with a wedge-shaped lip upon the und er side of the lid or cover, which fits therein, forms a self-sealingjoint, which is impervious to air and water, andent-irely prevents the escape of gases from within. This lip and groove, moreover, are so constructed and arranged with regard to each other that the cement is prevented from coming in contact with and soil-V ing the fabric with which the burial case may be lined.

a a ar a in thedrawings represent outer casing of wood, and b b b b an inner airtight receptacle, of zinc orother suitable metal possessing the requisite lightness and density. Projecting from the top of the inner case, and extending inwardly or outwardly, Figs. 2 and 4, entirely around the same, is formed a rectangular groove or channel, c c, which is to be partially filled with cement. Into the groove c c tits a lip, d d, of a halfwedge shape in the form of a right-angled triangle, the vertical side or attitude being on the inner side of the receptacle. The lip d d is attached to the under side of the lid or cover e e, which, when screwed or fastened down, as shown in Fig. 2, forces and crowds the cement toward the outer edge of the groove or channel by means ofthe peculiarshaped lip d 1thereby preventing the cement from coming in contact with the silk or other material with which the metal receptacle b b may be lined.

It may be here observed that if an ordinary Wedge or V shaped lip were used in lieu of the peculiar-shaped lip d d the cement would be forced equally to and over the inner and outer edges of the groove c c, whereas by my improvement all the cement is forced to the outer edge of the same, thus protecting the lining of the case,`andyet forming an airtight self-sealing joint.

Having thus described our improvements, and the peculiar-shaped lip on `the lid or cover,

We shall state our claims as follows: in conjunction With a proper cement, as del. Combining` an outer case of wood with scribed. an inner air-tight casing of sheet metal, having a channel for cement projecting from its ONPEM upper edge to receive a lip on lche cover, all as l ,M set forth. Vitnesses:

2. Forming the self sealing joints by mea-ns JOSEPH GAVETT, l

of the groove or channel in the receptacle ALBERT W. BROWN. 

